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Jason blinked "Does thathead injuries now?"
Piper laughed, exhaling all her nervousness "Coet you some fresh air"
Piper and Jason walked back and forth along the deck Jason was still wobbly, so Piper encouraged him to wrap his arm around her for support
Leo stood at the helh the intercoive Jason and Piper soe was in his cabin happily catching up on his asus Blackjack had flown off soht
The Argo II raced east, cruising several hundred feet above the ground Below them small towns passed by like lit-up islands in a dark sea of prairie
Piper reon over the city of Quebec She had never seen anything so beautiful, or felt so happy to have Jason’s arht aron Best of all, they were flying away from Caerous the ancient lands were, Piper couldn’t wait to get there She hoped Jason was right that the Romans wouldn’t follow them across the Atlantic
Jason stopped aht turned his blond hair silver
"Thanks, Pipes," he said "You saved ain"
He put his arht about the day they’d fallen into the Grand Canyon--the first time she’d learned that Jason could control the air He’d held her so tightly, she could feel his heartbeat Then they’d stopped falling and floated in midair Best Boyfriend Ever
She wanted to kiss hi held her back
"I don’t know if Percy will trust me anymore," she said "Not after I let his horse knock hihed "Don’t worry about that Percy’s a nice guy, but I get the feeling he needs a knock on the head every once in a while"
"You could have killed him"
Jason’s smile faded "That wasn’t me"
"But I almost let you," Piper said "When Gaea said I had to choose, I hesitated and…"
She blinked, cursing herself for crying
"Don’t be so hard on yourself," Jason said "You saved us both"
"But if two of our crew really have to die, a boy and a girl--"
"I don’t accept that We’re going to stop Gaea All seven of us are going to come back alive I promise you"
Piper wished that he hadn’t promised The word only reminded her of the Prophecy of Seven: an oath to keep with a final breath
Please, she thought, wondering if her oddess of love, could hear her Don’t let it be Jason’s final breath If love , don’t take him away
As soon as she had uilty How could she stand to see Annabeth in that kind of pain if Percy died? How could she live with herself if any of the seven deods died? Already, each of them had endured so much Even the t Roman kids, Hazel and Frank, whom Piper barely knew, felt like kin At Camp Jupiter, Percy had recounted their trip to Alaska, which sounded as harrowing as anything Piper had experienced And fro the exorcisood people
"The legend that Annabeth mentioned," she said, "about the Mark of Athena…why didn’t you want to talk about it?"
She was afraid Jason ht shut her out, but he just lowered his head like he’d been expecting the question "Pipes, I don’t knohat’s true and what’s not That legend…it could be really dangerous"
"For who?"
"All of us," he said gri important from the Greeks, back in ancient times, when the Romans conquered the Greeks’ cities"
Piper waited, but Jason seeht
"What did they steal?" she asked
"I don’t know," he said "I’ to the story, this thing was taken away to Roods, have hated us ever since They’ve always stirred up their brethren against the Romans Like I said, I don’t kno much of that is true--"
"But why not just tell Annabeth?" Piper asked "She’s not going to suddenly hate you"
He seeend says that the children of Athena have been searching for this thing for oddess to find it Apparently, they’re led to Ron…the Mark of Athena"
"If Annabeth is one of those searchers…we should help her"
Jason hesitated "Maybe When we get closer to Rome, I’ll tell her what little I know Honest But the story, at least the way I heard it--it claims that if the Greeks ever found as stolen, they’d never forgive us They’d destroy the legion and Rome, once and for all After what Ne destroyed five days from now…"
Piper studied Jason’s face He ithout a doubt, the bravest person she’d ever known, but she realized he was afraid This legend--the idea that it roup and level a city--absolutely terrified him
Piper wondered what could have been stolen froine anything that would ain, Piper couldn’t iod’s life over another, and today on that deserted road, just for a moment, Gaea had almost tempted her…
"I’m sorry, by the way," Jason said
Piper wiped the last tear from her face "Sorry for what? It was the eidolon who attacked--"
"Not about that" The little scar on Jason’s upper lip seeht She’d always loved that scar The i
"I was stupid to ask you to contact Reyna," he said "I wasn’t thinking"
"Oh" Piper looked up at the clouds and wondered if her y seeht "Really, it’s okay"
"It’s just…I never felt that way toward Reyna," Jason said, "so I didn’t think about itsto worry about, Pipes"